James I watched this for the first time nine years on from its year of production and nearly 14 on from the actual event. Happily, I turned to the IMDb reviews only after seeing the film, and find it surprising how much negativity there is around. The destruction of the World Trade Centre is obviously too big a story to tell in any single film, and it is also a story that should not be told in that way - in a non-documentary film - ever. But that does not mean that the event should not be dealt with at all, and here the focus is primarily on a rescue - one of the very few, and the rescuers - of which there were very, very many, including the rather incongruous bunch presented in this (true-story) film. The fact that the act of terror took most of its victims outright in a variety of more or less horrible ways does not mean that we "crow" or paint a ludicrously optimistic picture if we focus in one film on people who were actually rescued. Nor does it mean that we paint an unsubtle, gung-ho picture if we view recreations of the work of the hundreds (thousands?) who risked their lives (and very definitely their health, given the severe pollution on site) in the desperate hope that more might be extracted from the rubble. Indeed, to me this was not a particularly jingoistic presentation (and one would not particularly expect one from Oliver Stone). But it is moving and does inspire patriotism for humanity, as opposed to merely the United States. This is inevitable, natural and right, given that these are recreations of real events, and happily full of the weird, chancy, ad hoc, eclectic features that real-life events almost always present. Ultimately, then, a true story is told in a moving way (how could it be otherwise, given the circumstances?), and there is no reason I can see to dismiss this film (as so many have seemed to) as exploitative, over-emotional, over-patriotic or too inclined to focus on the few survivors, or anything else. This is a story worth telling, needing telling, and I did still feel enlightened further as regards the catastrophic and barbarous September 11 events. These cannot be bad things...

mariondowning-427-469344 So I heard that 10% of the money earned from this movie was going to 9/11 charities to help survivors and families of to poor souls who died. Except, over 60 million dollars was wasted on this and it didn't even make a million dollars. The families and survivors would have been better off if Mr Stone just drove vans filled with the money wasted on this up to their doors. I would have had more respect for him than I do after watching this waste of time and money. I doubt any of them have watched it because they know what happened to themselves or their loved ones. I really hope some of those actors gave their money made from this to the families and survivors. How disappointing (I can't believe this got any reviews above 5 that weren't driven by national pride or feelings of guilt).

DegustateurDeChocolat I decided to watch this movie because Oliver Stone is a guarantee of a quality movie. However, I was very disappointed by it since the plot, the events and the characters are those of a classic average movie with the predictable American happy ending. To be honest, if I hadn't known it, I would never have guessed it was an Oliver Stone movie. The director of many good movies like Talk Radio, JFK, Any Given Sunday and W. usually gives an original and very personal cut to his pictures, but this time he totally fails to give such a touch and instead he winds up being banal and predictable. Plus, the plot is boring and not at all entertaining, with big part of the movie shot in the dark of the debris of the WTC where the two Policemen are trapped.

Desertman84 Nicolas Cage stars in the unforgettable true story of the courageous rescue and survival of two Port Authority policemen who were trapped in the rubble on September 11, 2001 after they volunteered to go in and help in this drama,World Trade Center.It also features Maria Bello, Michael Peña, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Shannon.Director Oliver Stone once again is at helm in a film that offers a powerful and provocative story based on the real events that involves John McLoughlin and William J. Jimeno, both of whom cooperated with producers. Sergeant John McLoughlin and William J. Jimeno were two officers assigned to New York City's Port Authority who were working their beats on a quiet day in early fall when they received an emergency call. The day was September 11, 2001, and they were among the policemen who attempted to evacuate the World Trade Center towers after they were struck by airliners piloted by terrorists. Both were inside the fifth building of the World Trade Center when the towers fell, and were two of the last people found alive amidst the wreckage. As they struggled to hold on to their lives as rescuers sifted through the rubble, their spouses -- Donna McLoughlin and Allison Jimeno clung to the desperate hope that their husbands would survive and be found. As the both their families waited for word on the fate of the two men, they watched as a city and a nation came together with strength and compassion in the face of a tragedy.As a visually stunning tribute to lives lost in tragedy, World Trade Center succeeds unequivocally, and it is more politically muted than many of Stone's other works as the director concentrated on one of the catastrophe's stories and has fashioned it well with almost palpable physical detail, and with performances that never sink to exploitation. Granted, it's only the film's historical context that distinguishes it from any other dramatic rescue story, but in focusing on the goodness of humanity in response to the evil of terrorists who remain unnamed and off-screen, the film creates an emotional context as powerful as anything Stone has done since Platoon. Even as he resorts to some questionable tactics typically lacking in subtlety, Stone refrains from much of the blunt-force film-making that has made him a critical punching bag, rising to this challenging occasion with a heartfelt and deeply American portrait of unity whether personal, familial, and national. Flaws and all, World Trade Center serves an honorable purpose, reminding us all that for those fleeting days in September 2001, America showed its best face to a sympathetic world.